This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Shooting death of CFLer Joe McKnight began as ‘road rage,’ sheriff says

Authorities identified 54-year-old Ronald Gasser as the shooter and witnesses reported seeing Gasser and McKnight in a heated argument prior to the incident.

McKnight is the second CFL player to be shot to death this year. (The Associated Press)

By Rebecca SantanaThe Associated Press

Fri., Dec. 2, 2016

HARVEY, LA.—The shooting death of a CFL player in a New Orleans suburb was a “road rage” incident that began on a nearby bridge, a sheriff said Friday, as he urged against a rush to judgment and defended his handling of the case.

Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Joe McKnight was shot Thursday afternoon in Terrytown, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Authorities identified 54-year-old Ronald Gasser, who stayed at the scene, as the shooter and released him overnight, sparking criticism.

At a news conference Friday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said the altercation that ended with McKnight’s death started on a nearby bridge — possibly when one of the two men cut the other off — and then proceeded into streets of the New Orleans suburb. He didn’t say which driver cut off the other.

Authorities said Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car with a semi-automatic handgun while McKnight was standing outside. Witnesses reported the two had been in a heated argument, the sheriff said.

Normand defended his handling of the case, saying the investigation was ongoing. No charges have been filed. Some protesters upset at Gasser’s release gathered outside the sheriff’s office earlier Friday.

Article Continued Below

Speaking of Gasser’s release, the sheriff said the state has certain “statutes” that provide a defence to certain crimes but did not go into further detail.

“The easiest thing for me would have been ‘Book him, Danno.’ Right?” Normand said, referring to the police saying made popular on Hawaii Five-0. But Normand urged caution.

“Mr. Gasser is not going anywhere. He has been completely co-operative with us in every request we have made,” he said. “We will do a very thorough and deliberate investigation.”

Normand didn’t go into details from the investigation, saying he didn’t want to taint any prospective witnesses that might still come forward.

But he did reject a number of accounts in local media speculating about the shooting. In particular, Normand said there was no video of the incident and that Gasser did not stand over McKnight and fire shots into him.

Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich backed that up, saying Knight’s three wounds were not consistent with being shot from above.

McKnight is the second CFL player to be shot to death this year. Stampeders defensive back Mylan Hicks was killed outside a Calgary nightclub in September.

McKnight was signed to Saskatchewan’s practice roster on Sept. 26, and he ran for 150 yards in his first CFL start on Oct. 15 as the Roughriders beat Toronto 29-11. He finished the 2016 season with 228 rushing yards and 80 receiving yards over five games with Edmonton and Saskatchewan.

McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs before moving to the CFL.

McKnight’s grandmother said family members are still seeking information about the player’s death and why Gasser was released.

Barbara Franklin told The Associated Press relatives are “trying to find out our own selves” just what happened. Of Gasser, she said by phone, “He might be released now, but God is going to bring about justice in it.”

McKnight is the second former NFL player this year to die in the New Orleans area in an apparent road rage incident. Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was killed in a shooting last April sparked by a traffic altercation.

Normand said no gun was found outside either vehicle. A sheriff’s office spokesman, Col. John Fortunato, said authorities are searching both vehicles. Fortunato said McKnight didn’t have a weapon on his person or near his body when found.

Gasser couldn’t immediately be reached by The Associated Press.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand consoles a woman at the scene of former NFL player Joe McKnight's homicide as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigates in Terrytown, La. on Thursday. (Michael Democker/AP)

His release raised questions about what exactly led to the shooting. Arthur A. Lemmann, a New Orleans-based attorney not connected to the case, cautioned that it was too early to tell but it could indicate Gasser says he acted in self-defence.

“It’s not the end of the matter. They can continue to investigate. They can always bring charges but what it indicates to me is that there was some basis to believe that the homicide was justified. And the most typical justification of a homicide is self-defence,” Lemmann said.

McKnight was considered the nation’s No. 1 running back recruit when he came out of Louisiana in 2006 and signed with the University of Southern California. After a sometimes-spectacular college career, he was drafted by the Jets in the fourth round in 2010.

In a mostly sombre New York Jets locker room, former teammates remembered McKnight. Only a handful of players remain from those New York teams, but the impact McKnight left was clear.

“In my rookie year, he was like the first guy who actually talked to me here,” said quarterback Geno Smith, who was drafted in 2013. “Joe was cool, man. He was funny. Just a real laid-back guy, always kept you laughing and always a smile on his face.”

A few veteran players declined to comment in the locker room because they were so upset by the news, but later issued statements through the team.

“My memories from him are working hard,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “He came in his rookie year and it was a little rocky for him trying to learn the system. And then his second year, he took off as an explosive kick returner and he won us numerous games.”

He was released by the Jets in their final cuts after training camp in 2013 and spent that season out of football. McKnight signed with Kansas City in January 2014 but later tore his Achilles tendon and missed the rest of the year.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com